̽ѡ

Unit of Integrative Metabolomics

The focus of our research is to understand the metabolic drivers of disease towards the goal of developing a quantitative phenotype of health.

Craig Wheelock, IMM

Our work employs mass spectrometry to perform molecular phenotyping of individuals in response to disease or environmental stressors. These efforts are combined with integrative modeling to identify biochemical pathways associated with specific disease sub-phenotypes towards the twin goals of understanding the etiology of disease processes and identifying markers of the onset as well as resolution of system-based stress.

Publications

All publications from group members

  • Book chapter: METHODS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. 2025;p. 315-339
    Salamin O; Wheelock CE
  • Journal article: CHEMICAL REVIEWS. 2024
    Revol-Cavalier J; Quaranta A; Newman JW; Brash AR; Hamberg M; Wheelock CE
  • Article: MED. 2024;5(12):1485-1494.e3
    Kim M; Brustad N; Eliasen AU; Ali M; Wang T; Rasmussen MA; Ernst M; Hougaard D; Litonjua AA; Wheelock CE; Kelly RS; Chen Y; Prince N; Townsend PA; Stokholm J; Weiss ST; Bønnelykke K; Lasky-Su J; Chawes B
  • Journal article: SCIENCE IMMUNOLOGY. 2024;9(102):eadl1467
    Bohnacker S; Henkel FDR; Hartung F; Geerlof A; Riemer S; Prodjinotho UF; Salah EB; Mourao ASD; Bohn S; Teder T; Thomas D; Gurke R; Boeckel C; Ud-Dean M; Koenig A-C; Quaranta A; Alessandrini F; Lechner A; Spitzlberger B; Kabat AM; Pearce E; Haeggstroem JZ; Hauck SM; Wheelock CE; Jakobsson P-J; Sattler M; Voehringer D; Feige MJ; da Costa CP; Bieren JE-V
  • Article: ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN THORACIC SOCIETY. 2024;21(12):1715-1722
    Ryu MH; Hur SA; Afshar T; Kolmert J; Zurita J; Wheelock CE; Carlsten C
  • Article: EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY JOURNAL. 2024;:2400298
    Wang G; Hallberg J; Merid SK; Kumar A; Klevebro S; Habchi B; Chaleckis R; Wheelock CE; Hernandez-Pacheco N; Ekström S; Janson C; Kull I; Bergström A; Melén E
  • Article: ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY. 2024;96(45):17950-17959
    Smith MJ; Nie M; Adner M; Safholm J; Wheelock CE
  • Journal article: EBIOMEDICINE. 2024;109:105400
    Dahlin M; Wheelock CE; Prast-Nielsen S
  • Article: EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY JOURNAL. 2024;64(5):2400207
    Zounemat Kermani N; Chung KF; Macis G; Santini G; Clemeno FAA; Versi A; Sun K; Abdel-Aziz MI; Andersson LI; Auffray C; Badi Y; Bakke P; Brightling C; Brinkman P; Caruso M; Chanez P; De Meulder B; Djukanovic R; Fabbri L; Fowler SJ; Horvath I; Howarth P; James AJ; Kolmert J; Kraft M; Li C-X; Maitland-van der Zee AH; Malerba M; Papi A; Rabe K; Sanak M; Shaw DE; Singh D; Sparreman Mikus M; van Den Berge M; Wheelock AM; Wheelock CE; Yasinska V; Guo Y-K; Wagers S; Barnes PJ; Bush A; Sterk PJ; Dahlen S-E; Adcock IM; Siddiqui S; Montuschi P; U-BIOPRED and ATLANTIS Study Groups
  • Journal article: PEDIATRIC ALLERGY AND IMMUNOLOGY. 2024;35(11):e14267
    Virkud YV; Styles JN; Kelly RS; Patil SU; Ruiter B; Smith NP; Clish C; Wheelock CE; Celedon JC; Litonjua AA; Bunyavanich S; Weiss ST; Baker ES; Lasky-Su JA; Shreffler WG
  • Article: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF RESPIRATORY AND CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE. 2024;210(9):1091-1100
    Shahbazi Khamas S; Van Dijk Y; Abdel-Aziz MI; Neerincx AH; Maarten Blankestijn J; Vijverberg SJH; Hashimoto S; Bush A; Kraneveld AD; Hedman AM; Toncheva AA; Almqvist C; Wolff C; Murray CS; Hedlin G; Roberts G; Adcock IM; Korta-Murua J; Bønnelykke K; Fleming LJ; Pino-Yanes M; Gorenjak M; Kabesch M; Sardón-Prado O; Montuschi P; Singer F; Elosegui PC; Fowler SJ; Brandstetter S; Harner S; Dahlén S-E; Potočnik U; Frey U; van Aalderen W; Brinkman P; Maitland-van der Zee A-H; SysPharmPediA and U-BIOPRED Consortia
  • Preprint: BIORXIV. 2024
    Horwath O; Cornet L; Strömlind H; Moberg M; Edman S; Söderlund K; Checa A; Ruas JL; Blomstrand E
  • Article: JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL AND BIOMEDICAL ANALYSIS. 2024;249:116378
    Perez-Cova M; Bedia C; Checa A; Meister I; Tauler R; Wheelock CE; Jaumot J
  • Article: NATURE COMMUNICATIONS. 2024;15(1):8562
    Torta F; Hoffmann N; Burla B; Alecu I; Arita M; Bamba T; Bennett SAL; Bertrand-Michel J; Bruegger B; Cala MP; Camacho-Munoz D; Checa A; Chen M; Chocholouskova M; Cinel M; Chu-Van E; Colsch B; Coman C; Connell L; Sousa BC; Dickens AM; Fedorova M; Eiriksson FF; Gallart-Ayala H; Ghorasaini M; Giera M; Guan XL; Haid M; Hankemeier T; Harms A; Hoering M; Holcapek M; Hornemann T; Hu C; Hulsmeier AJ; Huynh K; Jones CM; Ivanisevic J; Izumi Y; Koefeler HC; Lam SM; Lange M; Lee JC; Liebisch G; Lippa K; Lopez-Clavijo AF; Manzi M; Martinefski MR; Math RGH; Mayor S; Meikle PJ; Monge ME; Moon MH; Muralidharan S; Nicolaou A; Nguyen-Tran T; O'Donnell VB; Oresic M; Ramanathan A; Riols F; Saigusa D; Schock TB; Schwartz-Zimmermann H; Shui G; Singh M; Takahashi M; Thorsteinsdottir M; Tomiyasu N; Tournadre A; Tsugawa H; Tyrrell VJ; van der Gugten G; Wakelam MO; Wheelock CE; Wolrab D; Xu G; Xu T; Bowden JA; Ekroos K; Ahrends R; Wenk MR
  • Article: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE: ADVANCES. 2024;3(10):1426-1437
    Begum S; Prince N; Minguez-Alarcon L; Chen Y; Soeteman DI; Fangal V; Huang M; Wheelock C; Mendez K; Litonjua AA; Weiss ST; Lasky-Su J; Kelly RS
  • Article: ANALYTICAL AND BIOANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY. 2024;416(25):5485-5496
    Zohrer B; Gomez C; Jaumot J; Idborg H; Torekov SS; Wheelock AM; Wheelock CE; Checa A
  • Article: JAMA DERMATOLOGY. 2024;160(10):1082-1090
    Chen L; Brustad N; Luo Y; Wang T; Ali M; Ebrahimi P; Schoos A-MM; Vahman N; Lovric M; Rasmussen MA; Kolmert J; Wheelock CE; Lasky-Su JA; Stokholm J; Bonnelykke K; Chawes B
  • Corrigendum: NATURE COMMUNICATIONS. 2024;15(1):8143
    Tribble JR; Joee M; Varricchio C; Otmani A; Canovai A; Habchi B; Daskalakis E; Chaleckis R; Loreto A; Gilley J; Wheelock CE; Johannesson G; Wong RCB; Coleman MP; Brancale A; Williams PA
  • Conference publication: 2024;:pa348
    Säfholm J; Dahlén S-E; Adner M
  • Conference publication: EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY JOURNAL. 2024;64:pa896
    Xiang Y; Liu J; Nie M; Nilsson G; Safholm J; Adner M
  • Show more

Staff and contact

Head of Unit

All members of the group

Metabolomic Epidemiology

We are working to develop the nascent discipline of metabolomic epidemiology, the field involving the systematic use of epidemiological methods and principles to study population-based variation in the human metabolome as it associates with health-related outcomes or exposures. Towards that end, the group works extensively on developing high-throughput robust metabolomics methods that are suitable for large-scale data acquisition. As part of our efforts in this area, we work to address many of the issues that can serve as potential sources of study bias and variation, both epidemiological and metabolomic, including study design, metadata collection, patient selection, appropriate choice of biofluid/tissue, sample collection, biobanking protocols, sample storage integrity, metabolite coverage, metabolite annotation, and metabolite quality control. Accordingly, following collection and analytical consideration of these potentially influencing variables, metabolomic and epidemiological data are integrated, and appropriate interpretations can be made. These efforts are important for our work in stratified or precision medicine in which we can use individual metabotypes to identify patient sub-groups with unique disease trajectories and treatment needs towards the goal of getting the right medication to the right patient at the right time. Our primary interest is in understanding the pathophysiological and environmental drivers of obstructive lung disease with a focus on asthma, in which we are using metabolomic epidemiological approaches to identify biomarkers for stratifying asthmatics for treatment with biologics.

Lipid Mediators

We are investigating the role of bioactive lipids including octadecanoids, eicosanoids, and sphingolipids in the etiology and pathophysiology of inflammation. Our research focuses in particular on the C18-carbon containing fatty acids and their downstream biosynthetic products. Linoleic acid, and its C18 analogs from both omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids, can be converted to multiple metabolites, collectively called octadecanoids. While there is extensive research on the biological activity of the arachidonic acid-derived eicosanoids, there is a paucity of information on the octadecanoids. This oversight is important because due to the widespread use of vegetable oils, linoleic acid is now the most highly consumed polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) in the western diet. The increase of linoleic acid consumption over the last 50 years has raised concerns concerning its potential impact upon human pathophysiology, particularly in regards to the effects on chronic inflammation. Conversely, the omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is generally considered to exert anti-inflammatory or pro-resolving effects, and deficiencies are associated with onset of inflammation. Work in our group focuses on identifying new octadecanoids and developing the analytical methods to quantify these compounds in multiple biological matrices. We focus in particular on characterizing the production of octadecanoids by immune cells to explore their role in the etiology of obstructive lung disease. Recent efforts include investigating the role of the gut microbiome in the production of octadecanoids and examining their physiological role in the gut-lung axis. Our primary interest can be summarized as a concerted effort to quantify lipids with a focus on understanding the role of fatty acids and their lipid mediator biosynthetic products in the etiology of disease. 

KI-SMMS Core Facility

Small Molecule Mass Spectrometry Core Facility (KI-SMMS) can assist with expert knowledge in metabolism, experimental design, and data analysis. Whether you need to perform metabolomics, lipidomics, targeted fluxomics or other types of LC-MS based experiments, we can customize our methods to your research goals and questions. Let us enhance your research with the power of targeted mass spectrometry.

LINK to Small Molecule Mass Spectrometry Core Facility (KI-SMMS)